IT needed a hard-fought 74-66 victory over Scottish Rocks at Glasgow's Kelvin Hall on Sunday for Guildford Heat to move into third place in the BBL Championship.

After stuttering early in the year, Paul James's side have now won five straight league games while their opponents are in a rut after sliding to seven defeats on the trot.

Heat quickly ran up a 14-6 advantage and although Rocks put in a 9-2 sprint, they were spent much of the rest of the match chasing, although it needed Mike Martin's free throw to send the visitors into half time at 36-35 up.

Martin bagged the first seven points after the interval too, Rocks leading just once all game. They must have sensed they had a chance late on but Keonta Howell suddenly took it away from them as he inspired a 7-0 tear.